Balfour bosses share £3m bonanza

DIRECTORS at infrastructure group Balfour Beatty - part of the Metronet consortium now running two-thirds of the Tube - shared almost £3m in pay, bonuses and benefits last year.

The level of boardroom remuneration was 16% higher than the £2.57m total in 2001, the company's 2002 accounts reveal. Top earner was chief executive Mike Welton, whose £554,097 package was 7% above the £518,922 he received previously. Welton, a director since 1996, is on a two-year notice period.

New finance director Anthony Rabin got a total of £226,222 for six months after his appointment in July. He was reimbursed the cost of his family summer holiday abroad. The accounts reveal that it had to be rearranged at short notice so he could be in Britain to present the half-year results following his promotion.

Chairman Viscount Weir, 69, who retires next month, saw his fee pegged at £150,000. However, Lord Weir, who lives in Scotland, also received £23,439 in expenses for transport and accommodation to attend company meetings in London.

Balfour is part of the Metronet consortium, which last week signed 30-year contracts to run much of the Tube. It plans to axe around 650 Underground staff as part of a cost-cutting exercise.